


Cirrus

by Tamarinds (yenni)



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Class Differences, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-21 03:38:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9529967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yenni/pseuds/Tamarinds
Summary: Kahili had the choice to join the League, Plumeria joined Team Skull 'cause she had none.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I had the idea of these two forever and I hope I'm not alone?

Participating at the Alola League has become an important part in Kahili’s training. Challengers are regular and hardy in their attempts to usurp the Champion. As a vying prospect for the title herself, she is glad the competition is one worth the effort to battle. Similarly, losing at the League isn't merely taken as a loss. Every match is well-fought, invigorating, and instills a stronger determination to reach the top once more.

With an impressed smile and curt nod, she addresses the aspiring opponent in front of her. The woman opposite recalls her last pokemon and Kahili repeats a phrase she is, alarmingly, becoming comfortable saying. “Congratulations. The title match is next, but don’t let your guard down as that is hardly the final step. I’ll also be coming for the seat.”

The darkly-clad woman clicks her tongue and tilts her head back. “Good match.” A dark bandana covers the top of her head as contrasting brightly-colored hair streams out underneath. “Your Crobat.”

“Hm?” Kahili's conversations with challengers are usually done at this point.

“It’s well raised.”

Kahili’s jaw tightens. “As is yours.” Her hand instinctively reaches to the pokeball holding the referenced pokemon. “Plumeria.”

 

There is a silver-lining to losing a match at the Alola League and that is spectating the title defense battle. The reigning League Champion, a remarkable trainer, defends with a spectacular display and the overall event is a treat for everyone lucky enough to witness it. They are all, like her she imagines, analyzing every move of the Champion to come up with a counterattack in the future and the training required to reach this level.

Today, Plumeria is up and Kahili pays particular attention to the Poison expert to see how her Crobat fares against the Champion's pokemon. It will be great to have the comparison for her own Crobat. After a hearty battle, with a result that some would have called 'expected', Plumeria loses and the Champion holds onto their throne—for now. The commotion settles and the Champion is once again escorted away, so Kahili makes her way to the defeated challenger. “That was an impressive attempt.”

Plumeria closes her eyes for a breath and grins. “It was wasn't it?”

“I thought so." Kahili smiles back. "I trust this won't be your last?"

The Poison expert looks at the pokebal in her hand. "No, it will not."

Kahili nods. "It would be a shame to waste a pokemon's potential—and a trainer's."

Plumeria pockets the pokeball with a pensive look. "I agree. I fought the Champion before this whole title nonsense and that much was evident."

"Oh? You know the Champion personally?"

Plumeria hums. "Something like that. We had some disagreements regularly settled with battles."

"I take it even then they were quite impressive."

"Yes and not just with talent as a trainer." 

"It does indeed take much more than an affinity in battling to reach that level." Kahili looks around, noticing the room emptying. "I appreciate the aspiration. Are you a trainer from Ula'ula?"

"Yup. Are you?"

"No, I'm from Akala."

“You must've made some name for yourself for this accolade. When will your challenge against the Champion take place?”

“I train everyday to maintain my position here and for the chance to eventually surpass the Champion."

"You close?"

"The Champion will back, they have to secure their place, and I believe I am a worthy opponent every time they are here. I gained additional insight from your attempt just now, too. I have to thank you for that. The effort from your team is admirable."

Plumeria's eyes dodge hers as she fingers her pink and yellow strands. "Thanks. I could say the same, your training must be vigorous."

"Only so much that it keeps me in the competition," Kahili adjusts her glove, "I train on Hano Grand Resort's golf course. It makes for an excellent option for a Flying pokemon's endurance.

"So you actually are a golfer." Plumeria looks her over. 

"Yes. My Flying pokemon coordinate well into my routine." Kahili is not used to people in disbelief over her career. She has made notable strides in the world of golfing where she has not come to be unknown. It's...interesting. “You should join me if you can.”

 

* * *

 

Hano Grand Resort boasts a regular clientele of superstars, political leaders, and many of the pokemon world's elite. Their presence has been commonplace in Kahili's life and, on the green, that status matters little in regards to competition. Today, however, she has a different sort of guest: a pokemon trainer without a noted interest in golf. Kahili hopes to show Plumeria the advantages a golf environment can present.  

"Your pokemon really get training done here?"

"Of course." Kahili answers her companion without losing her line of sight, hands gripped strategically on the golf club. She calls her Skarmory perched on the ground beside her to be ready for her shot. "I thought you and Crobat were at the 11th hole?"

"We were." Plumeria tosses the ball in the air as it is caught in the talons of Kahili's Mandibuzz above without diverting her attention. “Watch your drive.”

“Noted.” She lines her body and aim, and hits the ball with a whack. Skarmory darts after it with an amazing synchronism. 

"Impressive."

Kahili closes her eyes. "We'll see when we reach Skarmory." Kahili motions to Plumeria, asking her to follow in this short trek. "Do you play tennis, Plumeria?"

"Can't say that I do." 

"I'm not an avid player myself, but what do you say to a doubles match? Hano has a court with a very unique system in place to play with or against your pokemon. I'd love to have our Crobat train one another here.

Pluermia's tone heightens with interest. "That sounds pretty cool."

Kahili laughs. "I won't lie. The system was my own idea because I was getting nowhere in tennis with other players."

"Really? I was under the impression they both involve the same core task." Plumeria smirks.

An air confusion lasts only a moment as Kahili's lips form a line. "If you are attempting to make the joke I think you are, then I'd have to say that it's more beyond that."

"Joke? What joke?" Plumeria asks coyly, false shock on her face.

Kahili's eyebrow ticks, but she can't help playing into it. She lifts a finger in the air with closed eyes. "That they both involve hitting balls."

A laugh bellows from Plumeria. "Amazing," she catches her breath, "to hear you say that!"

Kahili smiles at the reception, she isn't normally considered comical, but she is chuffed at the opportunity. As they reach the area where Skarmory should be, they pass by a cart with two regulars, but Kahili is still absorbed in Plumeria's reaction to notice their scoff. Kahili attempts to quip back once more, but Plumeria instantly becomes agitated, conscious of the stares directed her way.

"Plumeria, are you alright?" She stops, her Skarmory only steps from them.  

Plumeria grimaces to the ground before looking to her side, "I'll be right back."

"Hm?" Kahili furrows her brow as she looks in the direction the Poison expert went. 

"Ma'am!"

"What is it?" Kahili asks, able to the identity the voice as one of the managers at Hano. 

"I do not wish to interrupt your training, but there have been a number of complaints from other players about a nuisance on the golf course. I knew you were out here and surely would have noticed if anything had gone awry?"

"I have not," Kahili gives him her attention, "but this is troubling. The satisfaction of the golf course is my priority as well. Is there anything else the complaints say?"

"Just that a woman is the source of it."

"Hm." Kahili does not like the feeling her gut supplies her with. "Thank you for informing me. I will see to it that these complaints are handled with the care they deserve."

"Of course. Let us know if there is anything we can do to assist." The man bows and turns to return his post. Just then Plumeria appears from a bush near Skarmory, muttering under her breath.

"Plumeria?" Kahili asks, wondering if it could possibly be true. "Did you do something uncouth?"

"What?" Plumeria's voice almost scandalized.

"I needed to make sure. There was a comment about a nuisance and guests have-"

"You too!?" Anger evident in her tone.

"Excuse me?"

"I can take it from the usual crowd that gives me that crap, but I thought you might be different!"

"Plumeria, please do not act like this. It only makes it seem as if those complaints are founded."

Plumeria's face seethes. "I thought to myself, 'I'll give you a chance,' but screw this. You're just like them because you are one of those fancy schmoes."

"I am only asking to-"

“What’s the matter?” Plumeria steps closer. “Does the rich girl who got all the passes in life have a problem with me being here?”

Kahili does not let her anger show. “I work hard for my acclaim in golf and the prowess of my pokemon.”

Plumeria shrugs. “Doesn't change that all the opportunities afforded to you were because of your favorable disposition. Access wasn't something rare for you.”

“I don’t have to entertain this.”

“You never had to.”

“I don't-!” Kahili stops herself and walks off, refusing to let her displeasure escalate. She knows her Skarmory has followed her when a shadow flies over her. In her ire, she is at the resort's entrance in no time. Two men standing by foreign-stylized oversized doors rush to open them to the private lobby of Hano Grand Resort. She stalks by them, reaching out to a man balancing a chilled refreshment on a silver tray. She takes a sip as the man walks away to refill his stock. As she has her fill, she holds the half-empty crystal glass to her side where it is aptly retrieved from her hold. She looks around the embellished rooms and spots her personal courier, snapping her fingers. “That’ll be all.”

Kahili makes way for the exit with the failed outing dampening her mood, gleam from the windows sparkling onto the air around her. Her assistant meets her next to the reception. “Miss?”

“My-” And just like that, something unsettles within Kahili. She blinks with perplexity, attempting to understand the meanings surrounding her when another voice cuts into her thoughts.

“Did you the miscreant on the lawn today?” A pair of sightseers walk by and she can recall seeing them out earlier. The other nods. “It’s a shame. It used to be said you couldn't find better than the holes at Hano Grand.”

The world she has always known, the world she never questioned. Kahili turns on her heel and to the reception desk. “Tell Father I’m going to see him. Now.”

 

* * *

 

Information wasn't out of reach for Kahili the Elite Four member or the professional golfer with an impressive amount of clout. She asked the right people the right questions and found herself at Mount Hokulani after nearly two weeks since a most disturbing day of practice. She waits at the bus stop, having rode it for the first time and is making conversation with the driver. She is unsure how much time has passed—10, 20 minutes—when the person she was waiting for steps out of the doors of the Observatory.

"Excuse me," Kahili says to the driver before striding to the woman exiting in a black crop top and crossing straps over her abdomen. As her distances lessens, Plumeria turns to her and her lips part slightly in surprise.

Kahili stand before her with a smile on her face as Plumeria makes no move. "Plumeria," Kahili begins, "if I can have only a minute of your time, I would be most grateful."

Plumeria's mouth closes as she faces away and nods, expression unclear.

"Thank you. Let us continue over at the Cafe?" The two walk to the pokecenter, taking a seat in the moderately busy building.

Immediately, Plumeria looks at her sharply as the corners of her mouth twitch uncomfortably. “Look, Kahili. I was-"

"I'm sorry, Plumeria. Truly." Kahili breathes and knows her posture reflects her lack of strength in that moment. " _I'm sorry_. I had a lot of time to think about things, things I would have never understood. Not that I can relate because I can't a-"

"I said some things I didn't mean. Well-" Plumeria crosses her arms and straightens her back. "The anger was honest. I was angry at everything and," Plumeria shifts in her seat before slowly looking to her, "disappointed about you."

“The things you said weren't wholly untrue.” Kahili steadies her gaze, needing to accept the situation. “My behavior was what was shameful that day. I,” Kahili bares teeth in slight anguish, “did have everything afforded to me that are luxuries to many others. The hotel of my father’s is another scar which Alola bears in its history of upheaval.” Plumeria says nothing as she looks off to the side. “I am a Golfer first, a Flying-type specialist second, and someone with significant reach to improve many things above all else—things I did not care to learn more about because they did not involve me. I want to learn and to listen."

Plumeria exhales slowly, voice low. "I bet it wasn't easy for you to reach this step."

"No, it wasn't, but I don't want to go back to that state, will you give me another chance?"

"Alright." Plumeria looks at her wrist, eyes wrinkling minutely. "But will you believe me?"

"Every single experience."

Plumeria snorts quietly. "That's a lot."

"I won't question. I don't need to understand it the way you do, only believe you arrived to those conclusions after a lifetime of what I cannot imagine." With a renewed calm, Kahili tries again, rightly. "Let's start here: how did you make it to the League?"

Plumeria smiles weakly. "You heard of Team Skull?"

Kahili shakes her head, although maybe someone mentioned it in passing. She listens and remembers to keep her opinions at bay, they have been deliberately skewed in her upbringing. Team Skull was somewhat of a criminal organization yet all its members had an unfortunate childhood. Not akin to something that can simply be described as a regrettable incident with a parent, or school, or living situation, but something on a much larger scale. Plumeria knows they could all be classified as  _miscreants_ , Hano Grand likely not the first time she heard it, and realized they were trapped in something with guarded exits. Plumeria found luck following her role at the organization, through Molayne. 

Kahili is pensive as Plumeria breaks from the story, focused on the table, and decides to ask something she needs to know. "Can you explain to me," Kahili treads carefully, knowing this is risky, "what you felt when I angered you on the golf course?"

Plumeria raises her head, stone faced. "Memories of all the crap we had to go through, especially those from my community outside Tapu Village. And everyone else who knows what it is like to be below. Looked at the way they do." She sighs. "I considered them my brothers and sisters in Skull. We got so much heat for just trying to live, to break free from the mess. It has just been too many times that no one cared." Plumeria's face softens from defeat with her eyes on the wall behind Kahili. 

There is a lot Kahili does not understand, but she knows she just needs to trust in Plumeria. She wants to do nothing less. She wants to because this woman has mystified her, surprised her, and, ultimately, drawn her. “Plumeria,” Kahili says, her voice soft. “Would it be alright if I visited your home?”

 

* * *

 

As of late, Kahili has taken to engrossing herself with the unfamiliar. An initiative to better understand Plumeria and the lives of those in similar situations. She has been in meetings with her father and his development partners to place more emphasis on not only the wildlife and their guests, but the impact to Alola's people. She knows there is more work to be done.

It is a reasonable distance from the League to Tapu Village, so after one of her days as the Elite Four, Kahili makes her way here to meet Plumeria to introduce her to the area. She stands in front of the infamous ruins, reminding all to never test a Tapu’s temper. Ancient traditions are not to be scoffed at as modern attempts to override it have proven that.

“Hey.”

Kahili turns her head to see Plumeria standing beside her looking on the same destruction. “There you are, Plumeria.”

“I remember seeing these stones when I was kid.” Plumeiria’s hands go to her pockets. “I used to play on them. We would pretend we were building houses. Ha. When I learned the truth behind them, I remember staring at it in the rain thinking, ‘it is only fitting that I live next to this decay’.”

Despite Kahili's stare the woman remains in her memories, so she turns her focus back to the ruins. “Why did you think that?”

“Because we’re cursed too.”

Kahili is startled by that. “W-what?”

“Let’s go.” She turns away, Kahili quick to her side, as she walks to the edge the village. Outside of Tapu Village lies a makeshift community. Trailers are parked around the entrance to Haina Desert, relying on the lovely oasis to sustain them.

“Welcome to the Forgotten.” Plumeria says, strangely devoid of emotion.

There is no sugar-coating it, Kahili thinks, these are people who are barely surviving and ignored in favor of the tourist stop to their north. Plumeria turns to a trailer and beckons her as she reaches for a handle. The Poison expert looks over her shoulder to her and Kahili can’t decipher the expression on her face. Worry? Hesitation? Regret?

Before she can wonder about it further, the door flings open and they walk in.

“Lumee!” An older woman with overalls, curly yellow hair, and a face smudged with oil smiles from her position at the small table on one edge of the narrow...room? Kahili is not sure how properly address this dwelling.

“Hi, Mom.”

Kahili barely registers the woman rising before zoning out of the conversation the two have as her eyes roam the area. The floor is stained, grout evident between tiles, and dirt swept into corners. One of the cupboard hinges is broken as its door hangs askew. The light coming through the windows is dull, a deep yellow color. Furniture displays clashing color schemes within the same piece as wear becomes ever prominent. Nearly the entire house is visible form the entrance. Kahili has never seen anything like it.

“-ili?”

Kahili redirects her glance to the people in front of her. “Hm?”

“This is my Mom,” Plumeria’s hand is open with a palm up as she moves it in front of a young woman beside her mother, “and my little sister.”

“It is a pleasure,” Kahili smiles and holds her hand out.

“Sup,” the younger says, her long pink hair poking out from a backwards cap and an attire not unlike Plumeria's.

“Oh, we don’t do that here.” Plumeria’s mother moves closer to quickly pull a stiff Kahili into a hug. “When you’re with Plumeria, you’re family. And that’s that.”

“C'mon Mom! I thought we were going to eat!”

"Then let us all eat," Plumeria's mother a short distance from Kahili with her hands still on the golfer's shoulders, "You'll love it."

 

Dinner was a much longer and livelier affair than Kahili is normally used to. Plumeria's mother had no shortage of dishes for Kahili to try and she was accepted each one enthusiastically. After Plumeria's younger sister went out, her mother shared a glass of a drink she had kept in a glass jar above the fridge. Kahili vaguely recognized it as one of the traditional alcoholic drinks tourists of her hotel demand to try. Plumeria then excused them both to properly see Kahili off. Outside, it is darker and later than Kahili anticipated yet she asked for Plumeria's time to sit on a secluded edge of the oasis. There is a chill in the air, but that does not thwart the youth of the area, whose voices are heard clearly, still playing.

With a hand to her chin and legs folded neatly atop one another, Kahili looks around. “It’s late and there is a large amount of children out.”

Plumeria shrugs, sitting with her hands behind her and knees bent in front of her. “Not like there’s much for them to do inside.”

“Point taken.” Kahili takes in more of the air the serene atmosphere exudes as she recalls the day. “Earlier you said this was ‘Forgotten’. Why?”

“Because it’s how we feel. And that leads us to sometimes making choices that people want to call wrong, but whatever. We did what we needed to.”

“Mm.” Kahili steadies herself for her next question. “Do you like it here?”

“I didn't always. Sometimes I still don’t, but I like everyone here. I’d fight for them.” Kahili's warm smile reserved for the water in front of them. She lets out a chuckle. "For someone so oblivious you're very forward."

"How so?"

"After one stint you came back with apologies then you wanted to meet my family. I began to think you must be that committed in changing your perspective and that maybe I misunderstood your invite, you know?"

Kahili shrugs. "I don't see an necessary timeframe. There are two options: I either want to be part of your life or I don't. I personally don't think I need time to decide if I didn't want to."

Plumeria chuckles and adjusts to cross her legs to prop her cheek with a fist. "Should have expected as much from a Flying-type trainer. Always working fast with that speed."

A hand goes to Kahili's belly as she begins laughing. "That," she breathes, "is a good one!"

"It was wasn't it?" Plumeria smirks, hands settled on the ground to her side.

As Kahili calms herself, she thinks about where they are right now. She hasn't doubted the mutuality of their intentions, having remained unchanged since her initial interest from Plumeria's title match, but clarity never hurts. It helps. "And that is something you want to, I trust? I can always leave you alone if you are not interested."

Plumeria smiles with a brilliance Kahili knows she always wants to keep. "Nah, I do."

Kahili reaches for the woman's face with a smile. “I want to work to do better.”

“And it kind of makes me feel like traitor,” Plumeria whispers as she avoids her eyes.

“Why? Because you’re with me? Arguably one of the factors in Alola’s erosion of history?” Kahili’s eyes are sympathetic. She knows she will have a negative effect unless she fights it at all times. “The only thing I’m not willing to change is how I feel about you.”

In a swift movement, Plumeria closes the distance for Kahili's best surprise yet, a kiss in the middle of the animated community.


End file.
